Eric Buechel

Eric Buechel

About Eric Buechel

National award-winning artist, painter, graphic designer, illustrator, photographer, art director & art history lecturer:
Artist Statement:
My artwork is about change and the many challenges put before me. The obstacles in life are only vehicles that I use to get to another experience. There is nothing permanent except change. Change never comes to me easily and on a vehicle of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.
If you change your position and the way you look at something, the things you look at inevitable changes.
Short Biography:
I grew up in what was, at the time, a rural northern neighborhood in the state of New Jersey, just west of Manhattan.
I first acquired my skills from my father, Ernest J. Buechel Sr. who was a talented artist and master ship-modeler born in Koblenz, Germany. After spending much of my early youth studying the works of the masters and working diligently on my craft, I won a scholarship in 1977 from the New Jersey Art Directors Club and went on to attend DuCret School of Art in Plainfield, NJ.
During this time I took countless trips to some of the worlds most renowned museums in New York City with pencil and sketch book in hand. Perhaps the most important thing to happen in my life was meeting Dr. Furman J. Finck, the Dean of DuCret and an official presidential portrait painter and author. Under Finck's tutelage and studying Dr. Finck's work at his Manhattan studio, I learned a technique using a Wolff's carbon pencil to draw incredibly detailed portraits.
After my studies in New Jersey and NYC I attended Broward College in South Florida and earned a degree in fine art. Soon I was on the way back to New Jersey and Manhattan to start my career as an illustrator, graphic designer and later an art director in both NYC and New Jersey.
In 1991 my path yet changed again and I began experimenting with both metals in the electronics field. In particular cathode ray tubes, circuit boards and base metals. On April 14th, 1993 my part-time experimental affords was a feature story on the front page of the New York Times as a pioneer in the field of electronic recycling and later coined e-waste. Later United States Senator Lautenburg would nominate me The New Jersey Pride Award In Science And Technology for my environmental process with the recovery of lead from the glass of a cathode ray tube.
My hobby would later grow and my company Advanced Recovery was hired to help clean up the Trade Center after the 911 attack. In 2002 I sold the company, moved to Tennessee and opened an art store, gallery, cafe and art restoration studio. Nothing could be better; unless your beginning to slow down, have to take long rests during the day, and the doctor gives you the news you have 4th stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A three year battle begins, and ends with a survival story and a new medium in my artwork arsenal-the camera. During my entire battle there were few days I did not thing of my art. I love this quote by Chuck Close"Inspiration Is for Amateurs"”The Rest of Us Just Show Up and Get to Work"
My work has been exhibited in galleries throughout the United States and London. My work is included in books, articles and I have had an in-depth pictorial interview in many newspapers and magazines, including the front page of our own Sun Sentinel in Knoxville, Tennessee on Sunday, July 6th, 2008.
"There is nothing permanent except change. If we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we wither and fade away". Eric Buechel
www.ericbuechel.net
twitter.com/ericbuechelnet
facebook.com/ericbuechelnet

Education:

Eric Buechel was born and raised in New Jersey. His artistic abilities emerged early in life, and he was fortunate to learn many of his skills from his father, Ernest J. Buechel, Sr., who was a talented artist himself as well as a master ship-modeler. Eric spent much of his youth absorbed in studying the great masters, often taking trains into New York City as a youth to spend hours in the museums. After high school, Eric attended the DuCret School of Art in Plainfield, New Jersey. He had the opportunity to study with Dr. Furman J. Finck, an official presidential portrait painter, author, and Dean of DuCret at that time. He learned much of his incredible detail from Dr. Finck. Eric later transferred to Broward College in South Florida where he earned his degree in fine art. He soon went to work in Manhattan and began his career as an illustrator and later as an art director.

His career path took a different turn for several years but his heart was with his first love – art. Then in 2002, he moved to Tennessee and is now able to embrace the opportunity to focus on art, once again, full time. He is a national award-winning artist. When he is not creating, Eric enjoys spending time on his property with his wife, tending to their bees and searching for inspiration for his next project.